Improved device for manufacturing chair seats



I waited-f (Stabat @wat @para A, BINGHAM, OF OAVENDISH, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE O, l WINOHESTER, OE ASHBUR'NHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 102,21

2, dated April 26, 1870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whomtt may concern Be it known that I, OsMoRn A. BINGHAM, ofCavendish, in the county of Windsor and State of Vermont, have inventedan Improvement in Applying Splints and splint-retaining Strips to Chair-Seats; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connectionwith the drawings which accompany and form part of this' specification,is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled inthe art to practice it.

My invention relates to the. manufacture of that class of chair-seats inwhich the seating or webbing is stretched across an open seat-frame, asin ordinary cane-,seat chairs, my improvement having particular,reference to the process of attaching the webbing to the seat-frame bymechanical appliances, which render skilful manipulation unnecessary,and by which the webbing is stretched and secured very firmly andtightly upon the seat.

In carrying ontmy invention I use a chair-seat frame, which, being madein one piece, or of' rails properly jointed or connected together, has acontinuous groove sunk into and all around its top surface, this groovebeing formed to receive a continuous strip, around which the edges ofthe web are bent, and by which such edges are pressed into and confinedin the groove, in such manner as to stretch the webbing and hold it tautover the openframe, the edges of the web being bent over and coveringthe strip, substantially vas shown in the United States Patgnt No.94,553, granted to ine September 1 186 My present invention will bedescribed by refer ence to the accompanying drawing, in which- A showsin plan a former, to which the retainingstrip is first applied.

B shows a section of such former, and a strip-encompassing hoop placedon top thereof'.

C is a similar section, except-ing that thc hoop is pressed down.

I) shows a section of the hoop raised from the frame, taking with it theweb-retaining strip.

E is a top view of the press, by which the strip is transferred'from thehoop to the chair-seat groove,

. and the grooved seat in posit-ion to receive the web.

F is a section ofthe press and seat-frame. These views, A B C D EIi,representing the successive steps in the process of applying thewebbing and webretaining strip to the chair-seat frame.

a denotes the retaining strip, preferably made of' wood, by means of'which the edge of the sea-ting is to be plugged in the chair-seatgroove, and thereby confined to the seat.

This strip having been cut to the proper length,

. width, and thickness, i. e., to a length corresponding to the lengthofthe chair-seat' groove, and to'a width and thickness corresponding toor slightly less Vthan the depth and width of the groove, is steamed andbent around a former or block, l1, the outer edge or perinieter of whichcorresponds to the inner wall of* the chair-seat groove, the strip beingretained against the edge of thc former by a band, c, encompassing the,former, this band being fixed to pins d, which extending through a base,e, rest upon springs j, such springs holding the band normally in theposition shown at B, around the strip a, but enabling it to be presseddown below such strip.

lhe strip being thus formed and placed within the band c, between it andthe former l), as seen at A and B, I next lay over the former the web y,to be fastened by the strip, this web being formed of woven strips orsplints, or of any other suitable chair-seating material, the edges ofthe web extending some dist-ance beyond the band. I then lay over theweb an open frame, li., the opening through which corresponds in sizeand form to the outer surface of the strip a, guide pins i, and holes7.', determining the position of the frame, so that when it is presseddown it shall surround the strip a. As it is pressed down, it comes uponthe web and directly over the top of the band c, pushing down said band,and pressing the edges of the web down against the sides of the strip a.

When thc strip is released from the band, by descent of the band belowthe strip, the expansion ot' the strip carries it outwardly against theinner wall of the frame, so that, when the frame is next raised, thestrip and web come with it, heilig held by friction and the spring of`the strip.

Slides l are then pressed inwardly, to bend the edges of the webbingunder the strip, the edges being trimmed off, as may be necessary, andthe slides being drawn back and leaving the web-edges turned inward.

IIhe frameh isconsiderably thicker than the depth of the strip, and intothe opening of the frame a block or' platen, fm, fits, said blockresting upon the top oi' the webbing and strip.

The strip and web-receiving frame are now car-l ried to the press forthe final operation, n representing the bed of the press, upon which isplaced the seat-frame o, in the top of which is made the continuousstrip-receiving groove p, this frame being brought to proper position bytwo pins q 'projecting up from the bed, entering holes o', in the bottomof the frame.

The seat-frame o being placed upon the bed, the frame h is laid over it,and is positioned relatively to the seat-frame by pins s, on the bed,and the holes lt,

through the frame Insuch positioning bringing the strip contained in theframe h in exact position over the groove in the chair-seat frame o.

The platen fm. being placed in the frame It, vthe press-screw u isforced down, carrying with it the platen, said platen forcing the stripa, and with it the web'drawn over its edges, down into the groove in thechair-seat frame, the strip and web tting tightly into the groove, sothat when the screw is raised, and the platen fm, frameh, and seat-flameare all removed, the webbing will be found stretched tightly over-theopening through the seat-frame, and vfirmly fixed to said frame by thestrip and groove, the webbing extending over the strip and groove so asto entirely conceal them.

It will readily be seen that 1n Vpractice this Whole operation, orseries of operations, may be performed with the greatest ease andexpedition, effecting a v great saving oftime, and. making much betterwork than can possibly be vaccomplished' byrhand, without the aid ofsuch mechanism.

I claimv A 'The devices by which the web g is applied to the strip a,consisting of the former b, band c, and frame h, arranged and operatingsubstantially as described.

Also, in combination with the above, the devices for applying the stripa and web g to the seat-frame, consisting of the bed n, plate m, andpress-screw u, substantially as shown and described.

. O. A. BINGHAM.

Witnesses: J. B. CROSBY, FRANCIS GoULn.

